This week the West Coast Crew heads down to Ratio3 to talk to Ryan McGinley and gallerist Chris Perez.

Ryan McGinley makes large-scale color photographs of nudes in abstracted natural landscapes. With his subjects as willing collaborators, he used photography to break down barriers between public and private lives. Drawn from skateboarding, music, graffiti and gay subcultures, his models perform for the camera and expose themselves with complete self-awareness.

McGinley’s more recent work signals a departure from the urban youth culture images for which he is well known â€“ over the past few summers he has been working almost exclusively in natural settings in the American west.

At 24, he was the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He has also had solo exhibitions at PS1 and in Spain at the MUSAC in Leon. In 2007 he was awarded the Young Photographer Infinity award by the International Center for Photography.Blonde Redhead

Written by Christopher Hudgens

Christopher Hudgens is the Operations Manager for BaS and works in various other capacities for other organizations in the Chicago Art & Culture scene. Most recently as Business Operations Manager for the Bridge Art Fair and currently an advocate for all things art & technology.

i just finished listening to the episode yesterday and the all i could think during the intereview was “got weed?” balzac is right on. it seems like the conversations that involve whiskey are way more fun.

i’ve got love for the west coast bug. i miss roadtripping on cheap gas. i remember one evening at the great sand dunes in colorado drinking full moonlit whiskey with friends. it was magical. afterwards, my friend bowie crashed another guy’s (tom’s) car into a deer. the deer was injured but not killed. another friend rufus wanted to kill the poor thing. by the time he had his gun lined up, the deer trampled off to die on its own. i wish that i had an olga camera to capture the experience. road trip adventures should be documented with olga cameras. unless kate moss is involved. then it should involve fireworks and feathers.

Smoke machines = timeless? This interview was full of such infuriatingly simplistic ideas. “The photographs just feel like a spontaneous moment…” Wow, what a strikingly revelatory comment on the nature of photography. This guy speaks and acts like some lame, generic “photographer” character on a TV drama, and I was cringing at his comments throughout this entire interview.
And the interviewer was just as bad: “Tell me about the fireworks… because the 4th of July is my favorite holiday.” Sorry guys, but can’t you go any deeper than this?